Sudanese Arm Dagger For Comment

[Yannis]

This is my contribution to the topic.

A dagger that lives last decade in my home. It has plain wood hilt with silver pommel.

I suppose that lot of forumites have one

[Lew]

Nice daggers gentleman! Here are two others for show. I wonder how many variations of this type of dagger are out there?


Lew

[Lew]

This one arrived today and it is very similar to the ones I saw in an earlier thread. The blade is 10" long and has some written in Arabic but I have no Idea what it says. This is the thread that I mentioned.
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=111



Lew

[Rather]

LOUIBLADES, difficult to read the text (the pictures are upside down), but the year on the dagger is 1318 A.H., which is the year 1900/1901 according to the Christian calendar.

[Rich]

Here's my contribution to the thread.
Had it for many years. What is the
flat triangular pommel for? Skull crusher?
Don't know anything about the knife. One
of my few, besides Berbers, African pieces.

Rich S

[Lee]

Rich: Your dagger is a tebu - or toubou, depending on how you represent it - dagger from the Sahara desert. Please refer to these old threads for more information on this style:

Tebu dagger from Goa

Toubou knife for your comment, from Chuck

Lew: I find it interesting that your most recently pictured dagger has the same device on the forte of the blade as mine that was pictured in the thread you cited in the same post. This style is attributed specifically to Sudan the country, as in Khartoum, while Rick's knife is from further west in the Sahara (Chad, Niger), a product of an oasis dwelling people.

[tom hyle]

That arrow-shaped pommel is associated with certain tribes, and goes hand-in-hand with the leather hand grip. Same sheath though, huh? I have an unusual sword with such a pommel and a disc-shaped cutting tip, which was collected (as rusty farm shed-junk, BTW) in Nigeria. The term "tebu" is associated with the pointy-pommel daggers, but I don't know if it's a name for the dagger or for a tribe. It seems I've seen......Fulanis?.........with them.
Yannis, are those feathered edges on yours? (a secondary bevel similar to "hollow grinding" but usually forged, as common on Berbese kodme) Is it symetrical in cross section, or is the feathering or other features offset?
This seems to be a broad widespread style with many varieties.
Now a mental excercise: picture if you will those double-sickle Konda/Mongo swords, Kuba ilwoon, and Kenyan (the Massaie don't make their own weapons traditionally, iron-wprling being against their religion/tradition and it seems pretty dang identical to swords of nearby tribes, such as Watutsi) seme on a continuum, along with the many similar swords.
Something I've wanted to mention for some time, and now seems to have "come up" is that iron and ironworking (probably due to weapon associations, but perhaps to use as money as well) and the blacksmith/iron god are all commonly associated with royalty in Africa, and I'm noting that nations with prohibitions against working or touching iron may tend to be nations traditionally free from kings and structured governments (thinking here of Tuaregs and Massai; other examples? counter-examples? Input?)

[Rich]

Lee and Tom -

Thanks for reference to the old thread on Tebu knives.
How do you guys remember all these old threads? I can't
recall what I had for breakfast :-)

Rich S

[Yannis]

Originally Posted by tom hyle

Yannis, are those feathered edges on yours? (a secondary bevel similar to "hollow grinding" but usually forged, as common on Berbese kodme) Is it symetrical in cross section, or is the feathering or other features offset?

I am not sure I understand what do you mean "feathered edges". Blade is handforged. In cross section, bladesmith tried to make it symetrical but he didnt manage it There are 3 ridges on every side but not exactly the same.

[Mark]

Originally Posted by tom hyle

Something I've wanted to mention for some time, and now seems to have "come up" is that iron and ironworking (probably due to weapon associations, but perhaps to use as money as well) and the blacksmith/iron god are all commonly associated with royalty in Africa, and I'm noting that nations with prohibitions against working or touching iron may tend to be nations traditionally free from kings and structured governments (thinking here of Tuaregs and Massai; other examples? counter-examples? Input?)

Here is an interesting contrast from the Shan states in Burma. Among the Shan, blacksmithing is considered peasant's work and is beneath any one of noble blood, or who aspires to nobility. The Shan hold that silver working is proper for nobility, however. I expect that it is due to iron-working being seen as "dirty," what with the sweat, scale, charcoal and such, while silver-working is more "dignified" and artistic.

I know that at least one reason why iron working is given such a high place in many societies is the importance that weapons played, and having a blacksmith was an important advantage. They used to get kidnapped a lot in West Africa apparently, and taken prisoner in battle rather than killed. I would guess that also the fact that is is a developed and somewhat arcane art, turning a lump of something into a useful and beautiful item, adds to the mystique.

[DaveA]

Here is my arm dagger, attributed to the Daza people who reside in southwestern Chad (fringe of the Sahara) and Niger. I'm told that the sheath's split "snake tongue" shape is relatively rare and indicates this is a "sultan dagger". I've read through the other threads and can't find any discussion of this split sheath style. Any ideas?

[Dom]

Originally Posted by DaveA

Here is my arm dagger, attributed to the Daza people who reside in southwestern Chad (fringe of the Sahara) and Niger. I'm told that the sheath's split "snake tongue" shape is relatively rare and indicates this is a "sultan dagger". I've read through the other threads and can't find any discussion of this split sheath style. Any ideas?

Hi Dave
never saw, and never listen to, about "snake tongue",
what could looks as a fish tail, also (sign of prosperity)

I know the name for this type of dagger "loï bo",
they come from Chad, as you explained , more precisely, from "Tibesti",
massive mountains covering part of South Libya, South Algerian Sahara, and North Niger
according with what I listened to on spot (I resided for 6 years in these parts)
the metal part pointed of the handle, possibility to use as weapon in fight (movement back),
but in fact, more usefull to remove thorns from bushes

here 2 with me, the biggest is more or less recent (20th C.)
the other it's a "venerable dagger" (19th C.), may be for woman, due to his dimensions
is all what I know about the subject, sorry if I can tell you more

à +

Dom

[Kamil]

Originally Posted by Rather

LOUIBLADES, difficult to read the text (the pictures are upside down), but the year on the dagger is 1318 A.H., which is the year 1900/1901 according to the Christian calendar.

LOUIBLADES,
Rarher's deciphering is OK. the whole inscription reads "Omdurman - year 1318".
BTW does anyone know how these knives are/were worn? I have heard and read that on the left arm, but where and how exactly? Maybe there exist a picture showing such knife "in use"...?

[Lew]

Hi Guys

Here hopefully is my last Sudanese dagger It also has an inscription on the blade but it was very hard to photogragh so here is my poor excuse at copying the script. I also came across this Tebu dagger the interesting thing is that the scabbard has a belt loop rather than the traditional arm band loops?


Lew

[Kamil]

Hi Lew,
another great piece! I, personally, hope that it is not your LAST Sudanese dagger I like to see them from time to time, and this forum seems to be more and more dominated by kerises (with all due respect to keris-lovers and kerises themselves). Concerning the inscription, the lower line resembles in shape the word "Omdurman" (again!), but written carelessly and without diacritics. The upper one is more complicated; its form can suggest that it contains a date (the elongated word "year" and the date itself above it, as in your previous piece). On the other hand, the middle part of it can be the beginning of the 20th Sura (Ta Ha); this, however, seems to me less probable, as I have never seen this kind of knives decorated with Qur'anic inscriptions and, besides, this particular fragment is not very apppropriate for decoration of arms. It is also possible that the inscription has been copied from another dagger by an illiterate artisan who tried to render the shape of what he saw without understanding it. It would be interesting to check this; could you try to photograph the inscription? Or maybe, if lines are incised (as I suppose), you can rub it through tracing paper

[Kamil]

Lew,
I haven't noticed the last picture (the photograph of the inscription) - it is quite good and I must correct my previous guesses concerning the lower line of text. I'm now sute that it reads "al-Khartoum", quite ornately written, in two lines. Alas - no date. Or maybe there is something more?

[Dom]

Originally Posted by Lew

Here hopefully is my last Sudanese dagger It also has an inscription on the blade but it was very hard to photogragh so here is my poor excuse at copying the script.

Hi Lew
with a lot of delays ... but I just get back my translator
about the text
if really it has a meaning, it's not in Sudanese language
language, very similar to Egyptian
those two ligns, hasn't apparently a sense in Arabic dixit my translator

regards

à +

Dom

[A.alnakkas]

Hey Dom,

It does actually:P The top word is الخرطوم AlKhartoum and the 2nd is أم درمان Um Durman.

[Dom]

Originally Posted by A.alnakkas

It does actually:P The top word is الخرطوم AlKhartoum and the 2nd is أم درمان Um Durman.

BRAVO ALEK you are correct
I know one, she will be teased
and "Lew" will have an enigma solved

thanks my Bro. for your help

à +

Dom